The Florida Senate

By July 1 of each year, the Department of Transportation or a transportation authority established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 shall submit to the water management districts a copy of its adopted work program and an environmental impact inventory of habitats addressed in the rules adopted pursuant to this part and s. 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s. 1344, which may be impacted by its plan of construction for transportation projects in the next 3 years of the tentative work program. The Department of Transportation or a transportation authority established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 may also include in its environmental impact inventory the habitat impacts of any future transportation project. The Department of Transportation and each transportation authority established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 may fund any mitigation activities for future projects using current year funds.

The environmental impact inventory shall include a description of these habitat impacts, including their location, acreage, and type; state water quality classification of impacted wetlands and other surface waters; any other state or regional designations for these habitats; and a survey of threatened species, endangered species, and species of special concern affected by the proposed project.

To fund development and implementation of the mitigation plan for the projected impacts identified in the environmental impact inventory described in subsection (2), the Department of Transportation shall identify funds quarterly in an escrow account within the State Transportation Trust Fund for the environmental mitigation phase of projects budgeted by the Department of Transportation for the current fiscal year. The escrow account shall be maintained by the Department of Transportation for the benefit of the water management districts. Any interest earnings from the escrow account shall remain with the Department of Transportation.

Each transportation authority established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 that chooses to participate in this program shall create an escrow account within its financial structure and deposit funds in the account to pay for the environmental mitigation phase of projects budgeted for the current fiscal year. The escrow account shall be maintained by the authority for the benefit of the water management districts. Any interest earnings from the escrow account shall remain with the authority.

Except for current mitigation projects in the monitoring and maintenance phase and except as allowed by paragraph (d), the water management districts may request a transfer of funds from an escrow account no sooner than 30 days prior to the date the funds are needed to pay for activities associated with development or implementation of the approved mitigation plan described in subsection (4) for the current fiscal year, including, but not limited to, design, engineering, production, and staff support. Actual conceptual plan preparation costs incurred before plan approval may be submitted to the Department of Transportation or the appropriate transportation authority each year with the plan. The conceptual plan preparation costs of each water management district will be paid from mitigation funds associated with the environmental impact inventory for the current year. The amount transferred to the escrow accounts each year by the Department of Transportation and participating transportation authorities established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 shall correspond to a cost per acre of $75,000 multiplied by the projected acres of impact identified in the environmental impact inventory described in subsection (2). However, the $75,000 cost per acre does not constitute an admission against interest by the state or its subdivisions nor is the cost admissible as evidence of full compensation for any property acquired by eminent domain or through inverse condemnation. Each July 1, the cost per acre shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index issued by the United States Department of Labor for the most recent 12-month period ending September 30, compared to the base year average, which is the average for the 12-month period ending September 30, 1996. Each quarter, the projected acreage of impact shall be reconciled with the acreage of impact of projects as permitted, including permit modifications, pursuant to this part and s. 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s. 1344. The subject year’s transfer of funds shall be adjusted accordingly to reflect the acreage of impacts as permitted. The Department of Transportation and participating transportation authorities established pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 349 are authorized to transfer such funds from the escrow accounts to the water management districts to carry out the mitigation programs. For a mitigation project that is in the maintenance and monitoring phase, the water management district may request and receive a one-time payment based on the project’s expected future maintenance and monitoring costs. Upon disbursement of the final maintenance and monitoring payment, the escrow account for the project established by the Department of Transportation or the participating transportation authority may be closed. Any interest earned on these disbursed funds shall remain with the water management district and must be used as authorized under this section.

Beginning in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, each water management district shall be paid a lump-sum amount of $75,000 per acre, adjusted as provided under paragraph (c), for federally funded transportation projects that are included on the environmental impact inventory and that have an approved mitigation plan. Beginning in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, each water management district shall be paid a lump-sum amount of $75,000 per acre, adjusted as provided under paragraph (c), for federally funded and nonfederally funded transportation projects that have an approved mitigation plan. All mitigation costs, including, but not limited to, the costs of preparing conceptual plans and the costs of design, construction, staff support, future maintenance, and monitoring the mitigated acres shall be funded through these lump-sum amounts.

For each transportation project with a funding request for the next fiscal year, the mitigation plan must include a brief explanation of why a mitigation bank was or was not chosen as a mitigation option, including an estimation of identifiable costs of the mitigation bank and nonbank options to the extent practicable.

Specific projects may be excluded from the mitigation plan, in whole or in part, and shall not be subject to this section upon the agreement of the Department of Transportation, or a transportation authority if applicable, and the appropriate water management district that the inclusion of such projects would hamper the efficiency or timeliness of the mitigation planning and permitting process. The water management district may choose to exclude a project in whole or in part if the district is unable to identify mitigation that would offset impacts of the project.